Thanks to the generosity of local donors, the Hermon High School Challenge Day Auction and Spaghetti Dinner has lots of great items on which you can bid.

The event begins at 5 p.m. with an auction preview, followed by dinner from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and the bidding at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16, at Hermon High School.

Items on the auctioneer’s block include homemade quilts, paintings, sculptures and a Dell computer.

You will also find a bargain table with used items.

Proceeds help finance Challenge Day, which, HHS teacher Shelley Gavett explained in an earlier column, is an event in which one high school class “goes off campus” to meet with representatives of the Challenge Day Foundation.

According to its Web site, “Challenge Day brings together students, teachers, parents, administrators, counselors and members of the community” to address issues “of violence, racism, teasing, stereotypes, tobacco, social oppression, drugs and alcohol within the context of school life.

“Through a series of games, activities, group discussions, icebreakers and trust-building exercises, participants learn how to break down the walls of separation and create new levels of respect and communication with their peers, their teachers, their parents and themselves.”

Challenge Day has proved to be “a wonderful way to bond a class,” Gavett said, citing the closeness of the Class of 2004, which participated in the program.

Your attendance at the auction and dinner will enable yet another HHS class to have the opportunity to share that experience.

On behalf of Penobscot County Area TRIAD, Carol Mower invites interested individuals to attend its annual meeting at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, at Miller’s Restaurant in Bangor.

The cost of the buffet lunch is $5.

Reservations and information can be obtained by calling Deb Melnikas at Eastern Agency on Aging, 941-2865 or (800) 432-7812.

The guest speaker is Ricker Hamilton, protective program administrator for Adult Protective Services Region 1.

The concept of TRIAD is cooperation among county law enforcement agencies and older or retired people in the community working together to reduce criminal victimization of the elderly.

Jean Edgerly of Dexter wants readers to know “if you see ladies in uniform or gowns” Thursday, Oct. 14, through Saturday, Oct. 16, “in the vicinity of Bangor Motor Inn, they are most likely attending” the 111 Session of the Rebekah Assembly of Maine IOOF.

Presiding over the assembly will be President Lucille Nelson of Auburn, who will welcome Assembly members from Maine, “several nearby states, the Maritime Provinces, Quebec and a guest officer from the International Association of Rebekah Assemblies,” she said.

There are 120,000 Rebekahs on the North American continent “whose purpose,” she added, “is to make this world a better place [in which] to live.”

We welcome the Rebekahs to the Queen City, and wish them well in their efforts that benefit us all.

Junior League of Bangor President Renee Kelly invites all women who have an interest in building better communities and developing lifelong friendships to attend its annual Membership Information Night 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, at 66 Madison St. in Bangor.

You do not need to be a resident of Bangor to attend.

Kelly wrote that the League has a long and “strong history” of being a force for “positive change in the lives” of women and children in the Bangor area through its many projects, ranging from the Pediatric Kitchen at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor to the Maine Discovery Museum, the Warren Center for Communication and Learning and My Choice Pregnancy Resource Center.

She also pointed out the organization “is proud that many of Bangor’s women leaders were active members of the League who cite the skills learned through the League “as a primary source of their ability” to have an impact and create change in their communities.

If you are interested in learning about the Junior League of Bangor, RSVP by calling 990-2436 or visiting www.jlbangor.com.

If you plan to attend, you are encouraged to bring a friend.

Paul Hilchey-Chandler of Bangor Convention & Visitors Bureau invites anyone interested in cross-border tourism in Greater Bangor and the Down East-Acadia region to attend the Bangor-Saint John Tourism Corridor Conference Oct. 24-26 at Black Bear Inn & Conference Center in Orono.

For information or to register, call the Greater Bangor CVB at (800) 917-6673.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.